Congress is headed home for August recess, where they will be meeting with voters, reading the local paper, and hosting town hall meetings. We should use this opportunity to push for full, unrestricted federal funding of syringe exchange. Email Health GAP's Director of Organizing - Kaytee Riek - at kaytee@healthgap.org if you'd like help or have other ideas for ways to take action.

For an update on what has happened in Congress, and talking points you can use, click here.

Here are ways to help:

• Go to a town hall meeting and ask a question of your Member of Congress or Senator. You want to show up early and sit right up front. When the time comes for Q&A, raise your hand first, fast and high and say something like (yes, it's OK for it to be this long!):

  "I know that Congress is debating health reform, but there is another debate happening around health that has the potential to save lives and money. That issue is federal funding of syringe exchange, which has been banned for 20 years. The evidence shows that syringe exchanges reduce HIV infections amongst injection drug users by 80%, but do not increase drug use. In fact syringe exchanges often refer more people to drug treatment programs than any other place, and they reduce the number of discarded syringes because people have a place to dispose of used syringes. The House has lifted the ban on funding syringe exchange, but placed an unworkable restriction on that funding which will mean almost every single existing syringe exchange will still be ineligible for federal funding. Will you write to leadership and ask them to lift the ban in the 2010 health and human services appropriations bill, and remove restrictions that would infringe upon local autonomy to determine how HIV prevention funds are spent?"

  For more on how to ask questions at town halls, download our "birddogging" guide by clicking here.

• Set up a meeting with your Member of Congress, Senator or their staff and invite others who care about syringe exchange to come. Ask them to submit a letter in support of unrestricted federal funding of syringe exchange to leadership who are reconciling the House and Senate versions of the bill. Here's a sample letter you can use (click here to download word doc).

• Contact the press, especially alternative press like weekly papers, and see if they can write a story. It's important that media that cover this story write about syringe exchange in a positive light. You can read talking points here, and click here to download a guide on media work.

• Write a letter to the editor or op-ed in your local mainstream paper. You can download a sample letter and talking points here. There are a number of stories in the paper now about healthcare reform, and syringe exchange ties nicely into that story (Congress is debating how to save money on healthcare, and one clear way is to provide unrestricted federal funding of syringe exchange...)

• Get letters from your local or state Department of Health, mayor, governor, or law enforcement that say Congress should lift the ban on funding syringe exchange with no restrictions. Contact Jirair Ratevosian from amfAR for more information - jratevosian@gmail.com. Download sample letters here: Law Enforcement | Local or State Health Department/Government

• Host an "accountability session" and invite your Member of Congress to come talk about the need for syringe exchange funding.

WWW www.healthgap.org

Headquarters

+1 212 537 0575

Kenya Office

+254 715 819 742

Washington, DC Office

+1 202 355 6343

Mailing Address:

429 W. 127th St, 2nd Fl, New York, NY 10027

Tax ID Number 20-505-3765

Administrative Fax:

+1 212 937 5283

DC Fax:

+1 202 355 6343 x 105

info@healthgap.org